Saturday, February 11, 2006

We've been slaves to ideology of one sort or another for a hundred years or so, ever since the emergence of radical socialism/communism. You and your family may never have been either socialists or Marxists (as mine weren't, I believe), yet the nature of the ideology was domination at all costs. People have done unimaginable things hard to even believe on the back of these ideologies, and now there's a new one, or a resurgent one, on the block.

Martin Kettle is a semi-reformed Guardian columnist: he still writes for the Guardian but he's somewhat dissenting, reminding the poor cossetted lefties of slightly uncomfortable home truths- he was supportive of the work of Lord Hutton, supportive of the US in Iraq.

That said, he's the son of a leading Marxist, while the reformed part is that he rejects that movement- now at least. His article about the subject is fascinating: the lengths that the Left would go to, the religious quality of it all; the lies.

But what we should learn from this is that 'strong' ideologies will go to any lengths, will stop at nothing, to rise and dominate. Islam is an ideology at heart, one which has been ebbing and flowing around the globe for over a millenium. It's a slow burn ideology since a religion of conquest and political uniformity is bound to go through bad spells; but it's not going through a bad spell now- it's cannibalising the burnt out shell of that more reckless ideology, world socialism, and motivating a vast number of activists.

The rule, with aggressive ideologies, has to be if it smells bad, it is bad.

One might ask 'why forge something? Surely some hatemail must be floating around suitable for the purpose? Or why not get something from the internet? Even before the Jyllands Posten case there must have been some pretty strong stuff out there.' Well, aside from the practical consideration that a real offensive cartoon could have drawn a real apology, scuppering the whole process, I think that's ideologies for you: they're all about control. Better to make the revolution yourself than to rely on the vagaries of real life. Rather lie than use the reasonable truth.

About Me

I'm 36, an EFl teacher currently teaching in Prague- but very untypical ie. what exactly? Just not, I think, coasting through life but a kind of serious traveller. Oh, and my heart's in England, much as I love elsewhere.